


Even Heroes Sleep

by sullacat



Series: Little Hero (the bb Spock series) [5]
Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-17
Updated: 2011-04-17
Packaged: 2017-10-18 06:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/185998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sullacat/pseuds/sullacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bedtime is a challenge, no matter what the species. (5/8 in series)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Even Heroes Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> For my [Schmoop Bingo card:](http://sullacat.livejournal.com/92694.html) Butterfly kisses. References made to 'House on Pooh Corner' by AA Milne. Title and lyrics from _Little Hero_ from the play 'Starmites'.
> 
> These characters do not belong to me. No infringement intended.

_[+ 18 months from de-aging; + 9 months from 'Learning Cube(d)'; Spock ~= six years old]_

 

It was generally agreed that Leonard told the best bedtime stories. Spock would never vocalize his preference for one father over the other in any area, but it didn't take long for them to realize that the doctor did the voices to all the characters in the children's stories pitch perfect. Both Spock and Jim enjoyed that too much to change the routine too often.

But one night Bones was working late after a mishap in Engineering, a patient badly burned, and it fell to Jim to read Spock his nightly story. Unfortunately, Spock's favorite storybook wasn't in its usual place. Just as Jim was about to find another story else to read, he remembered something special tucked away in his closet. "I'll be right back," he told Spock, all clean tucked in bed, as he headed out of the room. "Give me just one minute..."

When Jim returned, he was holding a very old, worn book. "I bet I can find something in here you'll like. This was mine, when I was little."

Spock carefully examined the cover, reading the title aloud. "House on Pooh Corner." The corner of one lip curled up as he looked down at the orange bear waving up at him. "Who is this?"

"That's Pooh. He's a bear."

"Bears do not have names."

"This one does. And he has friends, a rabbit and an owl and a Tigger."

Spock's tiny eyebrow arched. "What is a Tigger?"

"Oh, Tigger is my favorite," Jim grinned, flipping forward to chapter two. "That's a Tigger."

"That is a tiger."

"His name is Tigger."

"Tigers do not have names." Jim began laughing at Spock's expression, a combination of exasperation and confusion. "Human children's books do not make much sense, Father." Spock opened the cover and saw a child's scrawl, large and messy _-Jim's book-_ underneath another name written in simple block letters. "Who is 'George'?"

Jim took a deep breath, looking down at the two names. "George was my father. George Kirk." Another small smile. "This was his book, when he was little."

Spock nodded, seemed to understand. "Did your father read the stories to you when you were small?"

"No," Jim said, a faraway look on his face, "but my mother did, when she was home," he said, an honest smile on his face. Those were genuinely good memories, and he didn't mind thinking about that time, especially now. Finding this book in the small box of possessions that was sent to him when she was killed softened a lot of the resentment he'd held, all those years. "She would read this to me whenever I asked her to."

Spock got quiet for a moment. "I remember... her."

It took Jim a moment to realize what Spock was talking about. "Your mother?" he asked, feeling his heart beating faster. They'd suspected some memories were returning, things the little boy said, past events he referenced, names he called out in his sleep. "You remember your mother?"

But Spock just nodded, calm. "She was... different."

"She was human," Jim told him, "like Bones and me."

He looked up at Jim with bright eyes. "She was like you?" he said, a little smile on his lips and Jim felt his heart tug.

"She was," he nodded. "Your father was Ambassador to Earth, and he fell in love with her, and took her back to Vulcan with him."

Spock's eyes clouded a moment before turning back to Jim. "Amanda."

"Yes," Jim nodded, reaching down and petting his hair. "Amanda. That was her name."

"What was your mother's name?" Spock asked, leaning slightly into Jim's touch.

"Her name was Winona," Jim said, feeling his heart in this throat.

Spock touched the book reverently, nodding and listening, keeping this information, committing it to memory. "What was your favorite story?" he asked, examining the old pages, thumbing through the chapters.

"This one," Jim pointed out, showing a bouncing Tigger on the chapter title page, feeling his mood lift at the silly face. "Loved Tigger when I was little. Nothing ever got him down, no matter how strange things got. He always seemed to know what to do."

"Like you, Father?"

Jim chuckled as he tucked in closer to Spock. "I try, Spock, I sure try." He squinted, wondering if it was time to talk to Bones about those reading glasses the man was always threatening him with, and began reading the story, doing his best to do the voices too.

When he was done, Spock looked appropriately sleepy. "I believe Christopher Robin is simply imagining all those animals are talking to him," he said in a small voice.

Jim laughed softly, scooting off the bed. "Probably."

"She used to sing to me."

"Your mother?"

Spock nodded a little. "I remember a song she sang." Spock hummed a moment, then began to sing to himself. "Say good night, I'll be the light, and pray your soul to keep. It's been fun, but day is done, and even heroes sleep."

Jim dug his fingernails into his skin to keep from getting teary-eyed at Spock's song. He took a breath and continued with the bedtime routine. "That was really good, Spock. We need to find the rest of it, so we can sing it together. But now its really time for bed."

"I am not tired, Father."

"Oh yes you are..." Another memory struck him, as powerful as all the others tonight. "You know, when my mother was done reading, she'd give me a butterfly kisses and I'd fall right asleep, like a good boy."

Spock gave a little sigh, sounding strangly like Bones. "I do not see how a human mouth could approximate the kiss of a butterfly-"

Jim laughed. "No, its not that," he said. "It's- well, here," he leaned forward and brushed against Spock's cheeks with his eyelashes, one eye at a time.

Spock’s lips twitched, that tiny smile that was becoming more rare with each passing week and Jim's heart hurt thinking that soon it would be mostly gone soon, Spock's emotions held tight inside him. But Spock was _Spock_ , and every day that past only cemented in Jim’s mind that he was growing into the man that Jim knew and respected, his right hand.

But right now, Spock was a little boy that Jim loved more than he ever imagined. "Now go to sleep," he repeated, turning off the lamp and walking quietly out of the room, only to be stopped by the small voice once more.

"Father?"

A sigh. "Yes, Spock?"

"...I liked Tigger too."

 

Jim was asleep when Bones slid into their bed, as quiet as he could, but his eyes opened as he felt the strong arms wrap around him. “Hey,” Jim murmured against his chest.

"Hey, darlin'," Bones whispered, kissing Jim's hair. "Sorry I woke you."

"Gao okay?"

"Gonna be," Bones told him, still talking in the quiet, soothing voice Jim had grown to love. "How's the kid?"

"Snug as a bug in a rug," Jim answered. Suddenly he was filled with this emotional rush for the man next to him. He'd always known Bones was a fantastic father, that he just had that quality in him, but seeing it in action every day just cemented it all in his head. Lifting his face, he brushed his lashes against Bones’ cheek.

“What’s that for?” Boned chuckled quietly, pressing his mouth against Jim’s forehead.

"For being here, with me," Jim kissed down his jaw, "when I know you’d rather be somewhere else."

Bones eyebrows furrowed, that line between his eyes that set when he was confused. "What are you talking about?”

"Your daughter,” Jim said simply, knowing Bones would understand.

"My daughter is where she needs to be," Bones rolled onto his back, pulling Jim on top of him. The soft light of the lamp they kept on in the living area illuminated Bones' face just enough for Jim to see the affection there. Pushing a tendril off Jim’s forehead, Bones sighed. “And I’m where I need to be.”

“It’s gotta be killing you,” Jim said, shaking his head, cupping Bones' cheek with one hand. “I’ve been a dad for a few months and the idea of not having this soon is...” Jim sighed. “I can’t even imagine-”

“Jim,” Bones’ arms wrapped around him, pulling him even closer. “I’m where I need to be. For me. For her. For you, " he added. "I'm a better provider for her, a better person than I was back then. And I'll be a better dad to her, when the time is right." He got quiet a moment, taking a deep breath. "She and I will have our time together, when she's older."

Jim leaned down and kissed his heart, resting his head against the comfortable muscle of Bones' chest, listening to that reassuring thump inside. "Stronger than me."

"Nah," he nuzzled at Jim's temple. "Just luckier."

 

>  **Little Hero** from Starmites
> 
> Say good night, I'll be the light, and pray your soul to keep  
> It's been fun, but day is done, and even heroes sleep.  
> Close your eyes, and maybe then you'll fly  
> to the planets and back again  
> And bring those dragons to their woeful end  
> pretend and close your eyes  
> My little hero, My little boy  
> My little hero, Close your eyes...
> 
> Shadows fall and voices call, but you're not easy to scare  
> Sleep, you'll find a world designed to do anything you dare.  
> Close your eyes and maybe then you'll crush the enemy  
> and find a friend  
> And have adventures that will never end - pretend and  
> close your eyes  
> My little hero, Close your eyes  
> My little hero, My little boy...


End file.
